The Springdale food scene is in the news this week as a local family announced plans to revive the recently closed AQ Chicken House, an iconic restaurant known for its pan-fried chicken. The original location was demolished earlier this year to make way for a car wash.
The project is the work of Catalyst Capital, an investment group owned by the Lundstrum family, including Republican state Rep. Robin Lundstrum of Elm Springs.
AQ Chicken House was famous for hosting then-President Bill Clinton’s 47th birthday celebration in 1993. From the Los Angeles Times:
Clinton appeared at a restaurant door after dinner and was serenaded with “Happy Birthday” by a crowd of about 125 persons. Among the group was Dr. Morriss and Ann Henry, at whose home the Clintons were married.
Clinton was beaming. “It was great to see all my friends, and to be in the AQ,” Clinton said afterward, confiding: “I ate too much.”
The cake, he said, was “a plain white cake,” and “a beautiful thing.”
The Arkansas Times reviewed the restaurant in 2007, calling it “A-OK.”
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that the restaurant will be constructed about three miles west of its old location on land the Lundstrums own near the Walmart Supercenter on Elm Springs Road.
Talk Business & Politics lists the principal investors as Tom Lundstrum, owner of the industrial cleaning company ChemStation; Robin Lundstrum; their daughter Gracie Lively; and her husband Jacob Lively.
Tom Lundstrum told the Dem-Gaz that none of his family are restaurateurs, but the Livelys operated 13 Dairy Queens from the Little Rock office of the family business.
Rep. Robin Lundstrum is serving her fifth term in District 18. She was the sponsor of the Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act, a state law that banned gender-affirming health care for transgender minors. The law was struck down by a federal judge earlier this year, but the case is currently on appeal.
The family hopes to open the new AQ Chicken House in 2025. A Club Car Wash is currently in development at the site of the former restaurant.